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Apple Retail Chief Dissuades Employees From Unionizing in New Video
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I mean, if they’re gonna fire them fire them. But if they’re working for Apple (or any company) they should have healthcare, a living wage, etc
How's that any different than any private company? Company needs downsize, boom, you are gone. You don't perform up to par last year, boom, gone. Again, what's so special about retail that needs union? All is does is enable bottom performers hiding behind the group and makes it almost impossible to weed out the bad ones.
Well in Germany a union protects you from just being fired for no reason and almost more importantly, they have to agree on who to hire. „Vitamin-b“ isn’t always good enough. It works at the company I work for
I’m not asking them to give away all the wealth. If I took 98% of Bill Gates wealth, he would still have nearly 3 billion. I don’t think Bill Gates standard of living is drop because he doesn’t have 122 billion anymore.
These systems of business, stock markets, shareholder value are all artificial. At the end of the day, everyone including shareholders such as myself are getting their portion.
Instead of dissuading their staff from unionizing.
Apple should be looking at root causes to the problem and demonstrating genuinely how they're going to practically address the areas of retail concern.
A period of reflection is always a good starting point.
Apple should be looking at root causes to the problem and demonstrating genuinely how they're going to practically address the areas of retail concern.
A period of reflection is always a good starting point.
Boot lickers gonna boot lick.
People who are pro union and anti-corporate act as if they have no agency. You can leave and find a better job. You can leave and start your own business. You have options.
Unions are awful. I was forced to join a union when I was a teen working a part-time gig at a supermarket. I hated the fact that a chunk of my already low paycheck went to enrich some union boss. I got absolutely nothing in return.
Unions are awful. I was forced to join a union when I was a teen working a part-time gig at a supermarket. I hated the fact that a chunk of my already low paycheck went to enrich some union boss. I got absolutely nothing in return.
It's not different in that regard, however retail and service sector jobs being the bottom of the barrel suffer the worst in the fire-you-for-whatever-reason-we-want regime. There's essentially no penalty or lost productivity when you fire a retail worker. The company will either just hire another poor schlep for the job or pile the workload onto the rest of the employees. Other higher levels and forms of employment have the luxury of the existence of a real productivity loss if someone is fired. For instance I work on a team of three chemists. If any one of us were fired, the loss of one third of the team's productivity would be measurable, at least on the local scale. Though this is likely to not even amount to a rounding error on the scale of my Fortune 500 employer. Conversely, what's firing one cashier when you already have two dozen others doing the same job. Each of the remaining cashiers works an extra hour or two and boom "problem" solved. And while my company can fire me if they want, because I make a lot more than the $12/hour a typical retail worker gets, I'm able to weather that storm much better if I were to wind up without a job tomorrow. I might have to take the undesirable route of dipping into my 401k if I couldn't find another job, but I wouldn't be in a situation where I'm suddenly faced with the prospect of being without a place to live in 30 days if I can't get a job right away like a retail worker would.
And let's for a moment take your supposition as true that unions will enable some "bottom performers" to hide behind the rest of the union. Then so be it. That sounds far preferable to the status quo where companies have all of the power and individuals have none, outside of the "leverage" of quitting their job. I think you'll find that if even the best cashier or stocker at a local Walmart them they would quit if they didn't get a (measly) $1/hour raise for being the best performer, that the managers would laugh in their face and tell them "see ya later then." So why on Earth wouldn't those employees be incentivized to unionize when the company isn't giving even the good employees anything for their effort?
No they are not good for workers if they decimate companies and even entire industries, which they have done. Not to mention they take a % of everyone’s pay to pay union leaders that make 5x what Apple employees make.
You forgot to mention that all supermarkets are awful too.
Remarkable that such a very basic thing should be at all controversial, in this day and age. Apple is one of the very richest companies on earth, with huge profits, and their leadership makes huge money on stock. Apple is only able to create this wealth through the labor of its work force. A union will help the workers organize collectively to fight for a fair share of the wealth they they themselves created in the first place!
That’s not always the case. Look at the new Amazon union. Run by and for the workers. You’ve been reading too much propaganda
"It is equally your right to ignore a video from your company that is intended to dissuade you from unionizing."
Well they can prevent that by giving their employees decent wages and working conditions. They have more than enough bucks for that move. Decent wages/conditions = more desirable company to work at/happier and more productive employees.
Apple can certainly do that. However, in this day and age, even if Apple were to do that, I don''t think it would stop what is already in motion. It is just a matter of time. And with that will come an increase in prices as well.
I don't buy that. If I were an Apple retail employee making $50k/year, had a 5% 401k match, and had decent healthcare benefits, I'd be thinking what the hell do I need a union for? People who are paid fairly don’t seek out unions because they don’t need them. I’m not in a union and am not seeking to be in one because my company treats their workers fairly for the most part. Aside from decent pay I get an 8% contribution from my company into my 401k, 3 weeks of vacation (10 years with the company next year puts me at 4 weeks) and get 6 weeks of paid paternity/maternity leave. Why would I seek out a union?
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I somehow doubt that. But if you're right, that would mean that they've completely lost control and sense, given the current economic and political situation. They could lower their profit margins and do the damage control, yet remain succesful.
But if their shareholders really have all that deciding power and doesn't approve any of that (as many folks on MR state), then... they won't be the first company in history to quickly go downhill because of bad business decisions and greed.
Nothing wrong with paying a high school teen with no skills low wages. I happily agreed to it. What I didn’t expect was to see so much of it taken out for taxes and union dues… something that came as bit of a shock. At least I got some of my taxes back. Union dues OTOH went to buy someone’s Porsche.
Sure, but there’s not really a process in place where Apple can simply “pay a living wage” to all retail employees without getting approval from the shareholders. (And who knows, I wouldn’t be surprised if the SEC had a say)
But that only means that particular union is corrupted. If you ate a really awful burger at xyz, it doesn't mean burgers are awful in general.
Do you seriously believe Walmart or Kroger can run off the labor of only teenagers? And restaurants? I guess nobody should plan on eating out for lunch anymore since all the workers will be in school at that time. The median age of a frontline retail worker is 40 years old. You live in a fantasy world.
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Do you work retail? Because I believe how companies treat their workers is likely directly related to how valuable that worker is to them. If an employee is valuable enough to a company, they’ll pay them $50k/year…even more, give a 5% 401k match, and decent healthcare benefits, plus more.
Is it possible to make 50K in retail? As a Senior Team Lead, Manager, Buyer, Communications Specialist or other skilled worker, sure, AND they get added benefits as well. For retail employees? I’d say the current market trend is 30K, but that may be generous.
Right, and how do you think that’s going to end up? As unions grow they need hierarchy, leaders, money.
I’m a realist. The only ones falling for propaganda are the ones who believe that unions are the answer to anything. They’re free to get another job or start their own business. A better life starts with taking accountability, not asking the govt or companies for handouts.
This Marxist notion that Bezos shouldn’t be worth 100B but workers with little to no skills that never risked a dime should somehow be paid some random amount ($30… hmm I wonder how they came up with that number??) is beyond hypocritical.